 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
John Bland  |
EXEMPT STATUS: Top 31 on 2002 Champions Tour Money List FULL NAME: John Bland HEIGHT: 5-9 WEIGHT: 176 BIRTHDATE: September 22, 1945 BIRTHPLACE: Johannesburg, South Africa RESIDENCE: Knysna, South Africa FAMILY: John-Mark (2/8/69), Bonney (5/7/71), Candice (3/8/75), one grandchild EDUCATION: St. John's Boscoe College SPECIAL INTERESTS: Rugby, gardening TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1969 JOINED TOUR: 1995 |
| Champions Tour Victories |
| (5) 1995 Ralphs Senior Classic. 1996 Puerto Rico Senior Tournament of Champions, Bruno's Memorial Classic, Northville Long Island Classic, The Transamerica. |
| International Victories |
| 1995 London Masters. 1997 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Graham Marsh), Franklin Templeton Senior South African Open. 1998 Franklin Templeton Senior South African Open. |
| Other Victories |
| 1970 Transvaal Open. 1977 Holiday Inns Champion of Champions. 1977 Victoria Falls Classic, South African PGA Championship. 1979 Holiday Inns Invitational. 1981 Sigma Series 2, Sigma Series 3. 1983 Benson & Hedges International Open, Holiday Inns Invitational, Kodak Classic. 1984 Goodyear Classic. 1986 Suze Open. 1987 Goodyear Classic. 1988 Trustbank Tournament of Champions, Safmarine Masters. 1989 Dewar's White Label Trophy. 1990 Dewar's White Label Trophy, Minolta Match Play, Spoomet Bloemfontein Classic. 1991 Palabora Classic, Bell's Cup, Trustbank Tournament of Champions, Martini Open. |
| Current Year Champions Tour Money and Positions |
| $134,151 (52) |
| Current Year Best Champions Tour Finishes |
| T9--SBC Classic |
| Current Year Champions Tour Best Round |
| 66 at Round 3, Columbus Southern Open |
| Best PGA TOUR Finishes |
| 20--1978 World Series of Golf. |
| Best Champions Tour Finishes |
| 1--1995 Ralphs Senior Classic. 1996 Puerto Rico Senior Tournament of Champions, Bruno's Memorial Classic, Northville Long Island Classic, The Transamerica. |
| Best 2002 Champions Tour Finishes |
| 2--Allianz Championship, T3--Uniting Fore Care Classic Presented by Novell, Turtle Bay Championship, T5--SENIOR TOUR Championship at Gaillardia, T6--SAS Championship, T8--Emerald Coast Classic, T10--NFL Golf Classic |
| 2002 Season Champions Tour |
| Tournaments Entered--29; in money--29; Top 10 finishes--7 |
| 2002 Season Highlights |
| Played his best golf in the final third of the season with five of his seven top-10 finishes in the final two months...Top performance of the year came at the Allianz Championhip, finishing second by one stroke to Bob Gilder. Shot Champions Tour career-best 8-under 63 (course record) at Glen Oaks on Saturday and it included his second hole-in-one on the circuit (5-iron, 16th hole) and gave him a two-stroke lead after 36 holes. Was tied with Gilder with just three holes to play, but made a bogey at the 17th hole...Was T3 the previous week at the Uniting Fore Care Classic in Park City, Utah. Made 24 points on the weekend in the Modified Stableford event...Carded a final-round 69 at The Palmer Course and T3 at the Turtle Bay Championship, one stroke out of a playoff with Hale Irwin and Gary McCord. His $90,000 paycheck in Hawaii secured his spot among the top 31 money-winners for a third straight season...Closed out his run with a tie fotr fifth in the SENIOR TOUR Championship at Gaillardia where he closed with three successive sub-par rounds in cold, rainy conditions...Earlier in the campaign was tied with Jay Sigel for the 36-hole lead at the NFL Golf Classic, but struggled on Sunday with a 77 and eventually finished T10 at Upper Montclair...Continues to be one of the most consistent players in driving accuracy on the Champions Tour with a fourth place finish in 2002, the sixth straight year he has finished among the top 10. |
| Career Highlights |
| 2001: Had four top-10 finishes, the fewest he's ever recorded in a full season on the Champions Tour, but still managed to earn a spot among the top 31 on the money list for a second consecutive year...T4 in early March at the Toshiba Senior Classic. Was one of only three players in the field to record three sub-70 rounds at Newport Beach but missed out on a spot in a playoff by two strokes...T7 at The Countrywide Tradition in mid-April, his third straight top-10 finish in that event and his best finish in any senior major since 1997...Top effort of the season came three weeks later at The Home Depot Invitational. Fired a final-round 66 to finish as the runner-up to Bruce Fleisher at the TPC at Piper Glen, his best effort since barely losing to the 1997 U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields...Only other top-10 performance came in early September at the rain-shortened Kroger Senior Classic. Used a 5-under 65 on Sunday, his lowest round of the season, to jump from a T28 into a T8 at Kings Island. 2000: T4 at the SBC Senior Open near Chicago...Performance at Kemper Lakes came at the end of a streak of 17 straight par/better rounds...Finished second to Christy O'Connor, Jr. for the second straight year at the Senior British Open at Royal County Down, Northern Ireland. 1999: Had six top-10 performances, highlighted by a T4 at the Pacific Bell Senior Classic, three strokes short of Joe Inman. Closed with a 64 at Wilshire CC, his low round of the campaign. 1998: Season was limited to just 18 events, including just two following the death of his wife, Helen, in early August...Put together four straight top-10s, including a fifth-place effort at the Pittsburgh Senior Classic. 1997: Battled good friend Graham Marsh to the final hole before falling one stroke short at the U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields CC near Chicago...Contended all the way at Springhouse GC and was runner-up by two strokes to Gil Morgan at the BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland...Finished one shy of Bob Eastwood at the Bell Atlantic Classic after the final round was canceled by heavy rain...Led all players in Sub-Par Rounds for the second year in succession (69) and nearly led outright in Rounds in the 60s once again, finishing in a tie with Gil Morgan for the top spot with 44...Teamed with Marsh in March to win the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf near Palm Springs, CA...Also lost in a playoff to Gary Player at Senior British Open at Royal Portrush. 1996: Voted Champions Tour Rookie of the Year when he earned $1,357,987 on the strength of four official wins...Claimed the first event of the year, the Puerto Rico Senior Tournament of Champions, when he birdied the final two holes to nip Jim Colbert...Was the first of three times he would finish one spot ahead of Colbert in the winner's circle...The others were at The Transamerica, by one stroke, and at the Northville Long Island Classic, by three strokes...Also won the Bruno's Memorial Classic in a playoff over Kermit Zarley and John Paul Cain. 1995: Made his Champions Tour debut at The Transamerica (tied for lead after 36 holes) and T5 at Silverado...Was the fourth to Monday-qualify and win an event (first since Rives McBee in 1989) when he claimed the Ralphs Senior Classic two weeks after joining the Champions Tour...Earned an immediate one-year exemption when he came from four strokes behind to beat Jim Colbert at Wilshire CC with a final-round 65. |
| Personal |
| Says the biggest thrill of his career came at the 1996 PGA Seniors' Championship when he played with Arnold Palmer for the first time and recorded his first hole-in-one on the Champions Tour...Lists Gary Player and Palmer as his heroes and his late wife, Helen, as the most influential person in his career...Son-in-law Hughie O'Shea is his caddie...Has worked with South African teacher Dennis Hutchinson. |
| Champions Tour Playoff Record |
| 1-0 |